NATO to Replace American AWACS Aircraft with Swedish Saab GlobalEye
NATO will replace its American Boeing E-3A Sentry (AWACS) early warning and control aircraft with modern Swedish Saab GlobalEye. The joint procurement of up to ten new aircraft was announced by Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte during the opening of the NATO summit in Ankara, reports the Turkish agency Anadolu.
According to the Alliance's head, the new aircraft will enhance the Alliance's capabilities in aerial surveillance, threat detection, and troop command and control.
Saab GlobalEye is an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft developed by the Swedish company Saab based on the Bombardier Global 6000/6500 business jet. It is equipped with a multi-role Erieye ER radar with an active electronically scanned array antenna and is designed for detecting airborne, maritime, and ground targets, coordinating aviation operations, and transmitting real-time information to other units. The estimated cost of one aircraft is approximately 300 million dollars.
The replacement of AWACS was one of the main initiatives presented at the NATO Defense Industry Forum. In addition, the alliance announced the joint procurement of American MQ-4C Triton drones for maritime reconnaissance, the expansion of the fleet of European Airbus A330 MRTT refueling aircraft, and the launch of the HALO space initiative, which will integrate military satellites of NATO countries into a single network.
Mark Rutte also presented the Drone Edge program, under which Alliance countries plan to invest more than 40 billion dollars in counter-drone measures over the next five years. By the end of 2027, NATO expects to quintuple the number of drone operators and create a unified system for countering unmanned aerial vehicles.
In addition, the alliance is launching the NATO Engine initiative, which involves establishing a network of defense enterprises in all 32 NATO member countries to increase arms production. According to Rutte, no single state is capable of independently meeting the growing demand for defense products.
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